Donald Trump calls Bill Cosby a 'tremendous' man as he fires his TV daughter from the Celebrity Apprentice for REFUSING to call comedian for help in awkward scene filmed a year before rape scandal

January 5, 2015 10:37 AM

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Bill Cosby cost his TV daughter her chance at winning Celebrity Apprentice, but not because of the current rape scandal.

Actress Keshia Knight Pulliam, best known for playing the comedian's daughter Rudy on The Cosby Show, was fired by Donald Trump for not hitting her TV dad up for a bake sale donation.

In the last few months, more than two dozen women have come forward to accuse Cosby of rape - but Sunday night's episode was shot more than a year before.

You're fired: Donald Trump (right) fired former Cosby Show actress Keshia Knight Pulliam (left) in Sunday night's episode of the Celebrity Apprentice, for not calling her TV dad for a donation. The episode was shot a year ago, before scores of women came forward to accuse Bill Cosby of rape and sexual assault.

Nevertheless, the conversation surrounding Cosby in the boardroom caused a few minutes of awkward television - as Trump called Cosby a 'tremendous guy' and a 'gentleman'.

Pulliam was named her team's project manager for the episode, and was put on the chopping block when they came up short in fundraising.

In the boardroom, Pulliam's teammates (including Kate Gosselin, Shawn Johnson and Vivica A Fox) turned on her and blamed her for not calling up Cosby in front of judge Trump, his daughter Ivanka and guest judge Piers Morgan (Daily Mail Online's Editor-at-Large and the 2008 Celebrity Apprentice champion).

'Did you call Bill?' Trump asked a tearful Pulliam in the tense meeting.

Trump disagrees, saying a big donation to the sale would have been nothing for a 'tremendous guy' like Cosby with a 'tremendous amount of money' - enough to win the task with one phone call.

He told Keshia: 'You are an amazing person, but you were the project manager. You didn't make one call that I really believe that if you'd called that gentleman he would have helped you, even if you hadn't spoken to him in years.

With that, Trump made his signature hand move and sent Pulliam packing. He did, however, make a $25,000 donation to her charity from his own pocket.

TV blog Vulture, which recapped the episode, pointed out how strange it was that the scene wasn't edited to remove the praise of Cosby, even though Trump and everyone else in the boardroom were clearly unaware of the scandal when the episode was shot.

Immediately after the show's premiere episode aired, Trump was quick to point out that it had been filmed before any women came forward with rape allegations against Cosby.

Since the first episode of the Celebrity Apprentice was filmed, more than 15 women have come forward claiming to have been drugged, sexually assaulted or both by Cosby.

He has not been charged in connection with any of the allegations, most of which date back to the 1970s.

Sunday night's premiere episode of the Celebrity Apprentice saw a battle of the sexes as the all female team 'Infinity' took on the all male team 'Vortex'.

With Keshia leading the women as project manager and journalist Geraldo Rivera stepping up to manage the men, the teams had the task of selling pies to raise money for charity.

While the women opted to make an enchilada pie and a blackberry and pear pie, the men crafted a chocolate and vanilla pie alongside a low calorie chicken potpie.

While tensions rose between Kevin and Geraldo, the men had dozens of contacts coming to their pie shop with huge donations. Kevin's social media popularity also saw their store swarming with Jonas Brothers fans.

Real Housewife of Atlanta Kenya, however, was critical of her project manager when she learned she had not called her former on-screen father to ask for a donation.

In the boardroom it was revealed that while team Infinity had raised $93,862 – including a $25,000 bonus for having the best-tasting pie, team Vortex had raised a staggering $185,322. Winning project manager Geraldo took home $280,000 for his charity Life's Work.

Kate came under fire for raising no money at all and was called 'lazy' by Brandi.

'She stood around talking while we all did every job that we could,' the housewife said.

There were tears as Vivica said she was 'proud' of her project manager, but Keshia fought back emotion and brought Kate and Jamie back into the boardroom.

Despite Jamie and Kate having raised no money between them, it was Keshia who got the boot for failing to call Cosby.